Offside (2006)

Struggle of Women in a country that excludes them from entering the stadiums.

Director:

Jafar Panahi

Writers:

Jafar Panahi, Shadmehr Rastin

Stars:

Sima Mobarak-Shahi, Shayesteh Irani, Ayda Sadeqi

5 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sima Mobarak-Shahi	...	First girl
Shayesteh Irani	...	Smoking girl
Ayda Sadeqi	...	Soccer girl
Golnaz Farmani	...	Girl with tchador
Mahnaz Zabihi	...	Girl disguised as soldier
Nazanin Sediq-zadeh	...	Young girl
Melika Shafahi
Safdar Samandar	...	Soldier from Azerbaijan
Mohammad Kheir-abadi	...	Soldier from Mashad
Masoud Kheymeh-kabood	...	Soldier from Tehran
Mohammed-Reza Gharebaghi
Hadi Saeedi	...	Soldier
Masoud Gheyas-vand
Ali Baradari	...	Bus Passenger
Ali Roshan

Storyline

"Offside" is about a group of Iranian girls who attempts to enter Tehran's Azadi Stadium dressed as boys in order to watch a big football match but some get caught and arrested. After the establishment of the Islamic Republic in Iran, women are not allowed to enter the stadiums.

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Plot Keywords:

stadium | iran | soccer | iranian | world cup | 

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Taglines:

In Iran, All Women Are Banned From Men's Sporting Events

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for language throughout, and some thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Classics [United States] sourehcinema

Country:

Iran

Language:

Persian

Release Date:

26 May 2006 (Austria)

Also Known As:

Hors jeu

Filming Locations:

Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$18,003, 23 March 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$179,948, 22 July 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jafar Panahi Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 88 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Panahi officially listed his Assistant Director as the Director of the film so as not to attract the attention of the Ministry of Guidance or the Disciplinary Forces of Tehran, but towards the end of the films shooting a newspaper article about the making of the film listed Panahi as the director and both organizations attempted to shut the film down and confiscate the footage. Only a sequence that takes place on a bus remained to be filmed so Panahi was able to continue filming without being caught.

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Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: 25 Years of Margaret & David (2011)

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Soundtracks

Ey Iran
Lyrics by Hossein Gol-e-Golab
Music by Ruhollah Khaleghi
Heard over the credits

User Reviews

a simple plot woven into a brilliant movie.

I don't know how and where do the Iranian directors get their inspiration in coming up with a plot like this. In fact, it's a very simple plot that many directors could come up with --- but may not be able to project it onto a movie the way Jafar Panahi did.

The film is like 2 worlds revolving at the same time, one connected to the other - the football match and the battle between sexes that's going on behind the walls of the stadium.

It makes you feel like you are in the movie and you're one of the characters, and while watching the movie, as if you also would like to have a glimpse of the football match. You will feel exactly the same excitement and sentiments as those female actors in the movie. It's gripping in a way that you wanted to see the ending, you will want to find out the verdict, you'll be dying to see what will happen to the girls.

I like the intermittent conversations between the smoking girl and one of the military trainee. It's like venus VS mars, it really shows the difference in the thinking of men and women and the struggle of women to get equal rights and opportunity especially in a very patriarchal society like Iran.

This is the second movie of Jafar Panahi that I have seen (the first being Crimson Gold) and am looking forward to watching some more.

Am already hooked with Iranian movies and this one is a must-see!